Part I -- The pretensions of the bourgeoisie -- Doctors -- Notaries -- The rich -- Industrialists -- Bankers -- The ambitions of ordinary men -- Bureaucrats -- Peasants -- Workers -- Part II -- Marriage and morals -- Children -- Women -- Part III -- The place of politics in life -- Kings and aristocrats -- The genius in politics -- Republicanism -- Bonapartism -- The politicians of the Third Republic -- Opportunism -- Solidarism -- Radicalism -- Socialism